The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 3: Anticipation
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"You're mane is beautiful, Rarity."
"Why thank you, Lock. Surprised you think that of what it looks like now. Back when I lived in the real world, my mane was elegant and full of life. Now it's just a shadow of its former self." 'Rarity craned her neck to look at Lock, her pegasus cellmate.
Lock was brushing Rarity's mane with a worn down brush, recently coming from the showers. Lock was stroking it down, sitting on her cot behind the unicorn.
"Rarity, I wanted to ask you something. If you're a unicorn, why don't you use magic?" Lock questioned.
Rarity rose an eyebrow. "You don't know? Well, the unicorn guards place a constant spell over all unicorn prisoners to bind and magic they could posses. I have a question for you. How old are you, Lock?" Rarity shot back.
Lock stopped brushing her hair, going silent. She began to hum, seemingly having to think about it. "Well, I don't have my cutie mark, but that doesn't make me a filly. I'm thirteen years old."
"Thirteen!? Why are you in here?" Rarity burst in surprise. "What could you have possibly done to be in a high security prison?"
"I'm not sure why I'm here. I just got here from Cloudsdale. They blindfolded me, threw me in a carriage. I suppose it took all night to get wherever this place is, because I got here in daylight." Lock answered somberly.
"You don't sound very distraught, just slightly sad about it." Rarity pointed out.
"Well...I come to terms with things easily. I was only crying really because I was confused at first, but as the day went by and we talked more, I calmed down."
Rarity was vexed at the current situation before her. The thought of a mare being as old as her younger sister in a prison played a ferocious game with her brain, making her question just how fragile the Equestrian law really is. Breaking her thoughts, the PA system came on.
"Recess and Visiting hours are now in affect." The PA cut off, the cell doors all simultaneously opening at once. Lock hopped off the cot. "I'm going to go to Recess, Rarity. Wanna come?"
Rarity stood up and brushed her mane out of her face. "I have no other choice." Rarity followed the pegasus out the door, being instantly stopped by a guard that stood by the stairs.
"Not you," He said. "The warden wants to see you."
Lock was looking at Rarity and the guard, curiosity flashing in her eyes. Rarity gestured her hoof to go with a smile. Lock nodded and continued walking.
Rarity looked back at the guard. "Let's go then."
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The warden's door was tall and dark brown, a silver plaque stuck in the center of it's front that said "Warden". The guard that had led her there opened to door, pushing it open with no effort. Inside the door was a large desk, a chair behind it and a window showing the main cell wing behind that. In the chair, a red stallion sat, standard black suit with red tie, and a gelled black mane combed back.
This prison is so ridiculous. Mostly female prisoners, and all male guards. Even the warden. Rarity thought while strutting into the office. Two very generic chairs sat angled toward the Warden, his knees curved on the desk with his hooves pressed together in a pensive looking pose. The door closed behind the unicorn prisoner, giving the room an uncomfortable silence. The walls were painted a stark green, the walls littered with pictures of important looking stallions and mares together. Other bits and baubles covered the walls, some medals, papers framed behind glass to look distinguished. The old Rarity would have been impressed with the accommodations and high-society looking ponies. Now, she only saw them for normal ponies, just a little more snobbish then the average pony. Just like how she was. Though it did strike her with a small pang of sadness as she came to the conclusion. The Warden finally broke the silence.
"Have a seat, #175." The Warden offered her one of the generic seats.
#175 looked at the serious looking stallion with a passive sense of annoyance. "I do have a name, you know."
The Warden nodded. Rarity snorted at the rudeness he was pressing, deciding to take the seat and begin whatever the summoning was about.
After a couple moments of another silence, Rarity broke it this time. "What is this about, Warden? I only just got here. I couldn't have done anything wrong."
The warden sat back in his large chair, sniffing curtly.
"How long have you been a prisoner, Ms.Rarity?" The warden question, obviously knowing the answer already.
"Two years." Rarity short answered the stallion.
The Warden began nodding, sitting up in the chair. "Two years you've spent moving to different prisons. Terrible food, no proper cleansing methods, and broken down cots. I can tell from your bored face, it broke you a long time ago. I would say I feel bad, but I don't think you would care."
Rarity did some nodding of her own.
"Thought so." The Warden paused for a couple moments, looking about the unicorns face and frame. "If I asked you, "Do you desire to leave prison?", what would you say?"
Rarity felt confused. She could definitely be daft sometimes, but not always. "What are you getting at?"
"Right, well...let's cut to the chase. You are being bailed out. You will be flown back to your last housing, which it says here...is Manehattan." The stallion pushed a paper toward the edge of the desk toward Rarity.
Rarity's jaw dropped in awe. "Bail? My bail ended a long time ago! How am I being bailed?"
The Warden shrugged. "This is coming from high up, though I'm not sure how high. I have a boss, my boss has a boss, and so on. But you are leaving...hope you enjoy it."
Rarity fell back into her seat, her mind racing a mile a minute, confusion on bewilderment consuming her. A guard walked into the office and stood next to the silent prisoner. "Come on. It's time to collect your things."
Rarity looked up at the guard and back down at the Warden. He nodded to Rarity. Becoming compliant, she slid off the chair and followed the guard out of the door. In the matter of an hour, Rarity had lost her uniform, and was given the only thing she had on her when she was arrested in the streets of Manehattan; a gift that she had bought for Sweetie Belle's birthday. She was placed on a carriage constructed to fly, two large pegasi on the reigns soon flew high above the clouds. Everything was happening so fast that Rarity could not process what had just happened. In the matter of an hour, her entire world had been turned upside down. The memories of her constant torture and awful living were striking at her.
"Two years..." she whispered to herself. "Two years of all of that, not knowing what my own charge was, and being transported to high security prisons. All of it, changed in one hour."
For the rest of the ride to Manehattan, Rarity was quiet and pensive, wondering how Sweetie had gotten along without her, and how far everything went as far as her apartment. She soon began to dread the coming events. And she had every right to.